The houses stood neatly arranged, with mulberry and elm trees planted before and behind them, lending Baixi Village a unique rustic charm.
Zhou Ping carried the bamboo basket as he walked between the dwellings, his heart filled with joy as he looked around.
Even though his soul belonged to another world, this small village was his birthplace in this life. As the saying goes, it is hard to sever oneself from one's homeland. Now that he had returned and witnessed everything familiar, past memories kept flooding his mind.
This naturally drew sidelong glances from some households, yet no one dared to approach and question him.
After all, Zhou Ping had cultivated at the Azure Cloud Sect for ten years. Even though he had not truly stepped onto the immortal path, his bearing was quite otherworldly, and his skin was fair and delicate. He stood out completely from these rustic farming folk.
Despite their curiosity and suspicion, no one dared to come forward, afraid he might be some young master from an influential family. If they offended him, they might bring disaster upon themselves.
Though the farming folk were illiterate and appeared simple and honest, they were actually quite shrewd. Even if they lacked foresight, they knew better than to court trouble.
Soon, Zhou Ping arrived at the edge of the village, where from afar he could see the winding White Creek flowing quietly. It was only one or two zhang wide-not a grand river-but it shimmered beautifully under the harsh sunlight.
Farmland of various sizes had been reclaimed on both sides of the creek, with rice paddies swaying like a golden ocean, rustling under the autumn wind.
This creek had nurtured the hundreds of people in Baixi Village from top to bottom. Surrounded by mountains and isolated from war and conflict, Baixi Village truly resembled a pure land.
He strode quickly toward his family's farmland-six mu of land situated far from the creek. It was arduous to cultivate, yet his father, Zhou Dashan, had worked it painstakingly to support their family of four.
Before he even reached the fields, he saw several figures standing on the ridge from afar. Among them was one tall and sturdy figure that somewhat resembled the brother Zhou Hong in his memory, the two images gradually overlapping.
But before Zhou Ping could feel joy, he saw that the group seemed to be in a heated dispute, pressing against his brother, with signs of an impending brawl.
Anger surged within him, and he rushed over as if the wind were beneath his feet.
"Old Zhou, this land belongs to my family. How dare your family farm it?" a gloomy-looking man shouted from the ridge.
"Since we are all fellow villagers, and since it is already planted, I won't make things difficult for you. Consider this season's rice as compensation."
"Didn't we already agree?" Zhou Hong stepped forward to argue. He had clearly settled this with the man at the beginning of the year.
"Agreed? When did we ever agree?" The gloomy man sneered coldly. "Get out of my way now. If you keep blabbering, we'll go to the yamen and see which way the magistrate rules."
"You!" Zhou Hong's face flushed red with rage, his body trembling uncontrollably as he wished he could bury his fist in the man's face.
"What? Can't reason with me, so you want to fight?" The gloomy man rolled his eyes and laughed arrogantly.
The several men behind him immediately closed in, forcing Zhou Hong back with fierce, menacing expressions.
No matter how furious Zhou Hong was, the thought of his family behind him forced him to swallow his resentment.
"We worked hard to reclaim this wasteland into farmland! You bad people!"
The thin child behind Zhou Hong shouted stubbornly, but when a crude man glared at him, the child turned pale with fright and hid behind Zhou Hong, crying loudly.
Zhou Hong quickly shielded the child behind him, using his body as a barrier.
Old and withered, Zhou Dashan's back was already hunched. Now he stepped forward humbly, forcing a sycophantic smile as he grabbed the man's sleeve.
"Liu Da, the autumn harvest is right before us. See, we've already reclaimed the land for you. Let us harvest this season's rice, won't you?"
But Liu Da shook him off disdainfully. "The grain growing on my land-why should I let you harvest it?"
Zhou Dashan was already advanced in age. Thrown off abruptly by Liu Da, he stumbled and fell heavily to the ground, crying out in pain.
"Father!"
"Grandpa!"
Zhou Hong's eyes turned blood-red as he rushed over to check on Zhou Dashan. What he saw enraged him-Zhou Dashan's arm had accidentally struck a large rock, leaving it bloody and mangled.
The little boy knelt beside Zhou Dashan, heartbroken as he supported his grandfather, tears streaming down his face.
Liu Da naturally saw this too. Though a bit unsettled, he still shouted arrogantly, "Old fool, trying to swindle me, are you?"
"Damn it, Liu Da, you son of a bitch!"
Zhou Hong roared, then charged at Liu Da like a wild bull, catching him off guard and sending him tumbling to the ground.
The others nearby quickly stepped in to stop him, but Zhou Hong was a hardened farmhand with considerable strength, and for a moment, the struggle was deadlocked.
"Damn it, you dare hit me? Kill them all for me!"
Liu Da scrambled up from the ground, disheveled and hideous, shouting furiously-when suddenly he felt a tremendous force strike him from behind, sending him flying several zhang away.
"Who are you going to kill?"
A voice filled with chilling rage rang out, instantly drawing everyone's attention.
Zhou Ping stood there, his face cold as he stared at the Liu family men. Wind whistled violently from his sleeves, freezing the group of men in place, not daring to move.
"Who's this meddler? Get him!"
Someone shouted, and immediately four or five men charged at Zhou Ping like wild bears.
Zhou Ping moved like a floating swallow, easily dodging their attacks. He gathered spiritual Qi into his fists and struck the men heavily, each punch landing with bone-crushing force. In just a few blows, he had them all on the ground, unable to move, wailing in pain.
Then he walked over to Liu Da, raised his arm slightly, and a golden light descended swiftly.
"You injured my father-I'll take one of your hands as punishment!"
"Ah! My hand!"
Liu Da let out a miserable scream. One of his hands had been severed by the golden light, blood gushing everywhere as he collapsed to the ground, howling in agony.
"He's an immortal master!" The men forgot their pain, kneeling in terror and kowtowing frantically.
"Spare us, immortal master! Spare us!"
"Get lost!"
Zhou Ping shouted, and the men fled in panic, carrying the miserable Liu Da away without daring to linger for another second.
Zhou Ping's body swayed slightly-that last move had consumed a great deal of his spiritual Qi. But he couldn't care about that now. He hurried over anxiously to check Zhou Dashan's arm, his expression turning grave. He injected the remaining spiritual Qi in his body, and only then did Zhou Dashan's arm stop bleeding and form a protective scab. Then he got up and checked Zhou Hong and the child one by one.
After finishing all this, he felt somewhat hollow-the result of overexertion from consuming too much spiritual Qi. After all, at the Spirit Awakening Realm, spiritual Qi was scarce. He had used up most of it just now casting techniques, and after desperately treating his family, there was none left.
He was also grateful that he had arrived in time. If he had been even half a step later, something terrible might have happened to his father today.
Just now, he had wanted to kill them all, but in the end, he held back-for his own sake, and for his family's.
As long as one hadn't opened their spiritual apertures and truly embarked on the path of cultivation, they were still technically among mortals, no different from ordinary people-just a bit stronger in strength, still bound by secular law. Only after opening the spiritual apertures and becoming a Qi Condensation cultivator could one truly be considered separate from mortals.
If he had killed these people in a moment of impulse, the Liu family would surely report him to the authorities. And the Liu family was no poor, insignificant household-they had connections in the government. He couldn't very well take his entire family and flee to the ends of the earth as fugitives.
So he only crippled Liu Da, the ringleader, while the others just took a few heavy punches and would recover after a few days of rest.
This served as a warning to the Liu family, and also sent a clear message: the second son of the Zhou family had returned, but only wanted to live in peace. If they bullied the Zhou family again, they shouldn't blame him for being ruthless.
The three of them-grandfather, son, and grandson-had long been terrified by the bloody scene. They looked at Zhou Ping fearfully, not daring to breathe too loudly, afraid of angering this powerful immortal master.
Finally, after staring carefully for a moment and sensing a hint of familiarity, Zhou Hong asked hesitantly and uncertainly.
"Is... is that you, Brother Ping?"
Zhou Ping turned his head, smiling at the three of them, but the corners of his eyes couldn't help but grow moist.
"Father, big brother, I'm home."48Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdzpNYBcBNN
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